


A Few Extra Seconds

by TheNightsQueen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, James doesn't, Lily Evans Potter Lives, Lily goes to Petunia, Reconciliation, Sister-Sister Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2019-08-07 22:04:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16416833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNightsQueen/pseuds/TheNightsQueen
Summary: There wasn’t a chance for James Potter. He had no wand and stood only with his courage and his willingness to buy his wife and son some time. Any time. A few extra seconds.There was a chance for Lily. There were anti apparition wards over the house, and Lily could barely think to keep a hold of her wand while she clutched onto her baby with both arms, running through the nursery. She flicked her wand as best she could while she held Harry, and sent the furniture crashing up against the door, easily her clumsiest spellwork in years but it hardly seemed to matter now.A few extra seconds. What to do with them?





	1. Chapter 1

**“Lily! Take Harry and go! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off!”**

  
  
There wasn’t a chance for James Potter. He had no wand and stood only with his courage and his willingness to buy his wife and son some time. Any time. A few extra seconds.

 

There was a chance for Lily. There were anti apparition wards over the house, and Lily could barely think to keep a hold of her wand while she clutched onto her baby with both arms, running through the nursery. She flicked her wand as best she could while she held Harry, and sent the furniture crashing up against the door, easily her clumsiest spellwork in years but it hardly seemed to matter now.

 

A few extra seconds. What to do with them?

 

No way to apparate, no portkey, James’ broom was in the shed, and flying with a baby was practically impossible. No magic transport. But there was a window, and Lily could have flicked her wand, but she couldn’t even think to move her wand arm away from Harry. But she was wearing her boots, and with her ratty old muggle doc martens, she smashed the window pane with her foot.

 

The cottage wasn’t tall, but Harrys nursery was still on the second floor, and by now Lily’s furniture blockade had been blasted to pieces. No time left. No choices left to make, she fell backwards out of the window, clutching her baby to her chest and hoping desperately the time she had spent gardening left her with enough of a flowerbed to cushion her fall.

 

She didn’t even have time to think about the pain as she scrambled to her feet, and ran. Just ran. Jets of green light flew at her from the broken window, and Harry’s screams filled her ears, but Lily couldn’t spare a thought for any of it as she ran, vaulting over the small garden wall as best she could.

 

Now, you’re not supposed to apparate with a baby, but truly, Lily had no choice. She ran past the apparition wards and closed her eyes and thought of home. Cokeworth. And suddenly there she was. In the alley by her parents old house, Tuney was the one who sorted out the paperwork, but she knew it stood empty, up for sale since her parents had passed.

 

She stood stone still for a moment, her heart thudding in her chest, and she registered mutely as Harry’s cries stopped only for the poor boy to be sick down Lily’s front. The least of her worries right now. She rubbed Harry’s back to calm him, barely registering doing it as she tried to catch her breath in the growing darkness of the alley around her. She couldn’t apparate again, not with her baby. She had managed not to splinch him once, and Lily was sure that was fueled entirely by terror.

 

Peter. Of course it had been Peter. He had been sewing seeds about Remus for months, even getting Sirius to pick a fight over it. Lily cursed as she rocked Harry softly, adjusting him in her arms enough to pull her wand out and use a few cleaning charms to get rid of his sick. It had been Peter. Or had it been Sirius too? Wanting to blame Remus, and he had been most vocal about that. Her boys… what on earth had happened to her boys. James…  


Lily shook her head, she had no time to go down that road right now. All she had was her wand, and her baby, and she was in the middle of muggle nowhere, with an empty home in which she had grown up. Now with bare floors and naked walls, it was the shell of a house, wiped clean for someone else to move their lives into. But it was all she had.

 

Lily took a breath and set off down the road, bouncing harry in her arms as she approached the old Evans’ home, the garden had become overgrown, and the for sale sign was slightly wonky from a recent storm, but it was safe enough for the moment.

 

She crept up to the back gate, and let herself in with her wand. Slipping through the kitchen, Lily went straight upstairs, Tuneys old room. Her window had a view of the whole street, and a plush carpet on the floor.

 

Still numb, Lily placed Harry on the floor gently, knowing the carpet was the best she could provide right now. Someone in the order had blabbed. Definitely Peter, but who knows who else? Lily didn’t know who to trust or who to turn to, so she set up her own wards, enough to keep them safe for this moment.

 

Lily sat down on the floor next to where she had placed Harry, leaning against the wall and still clutching to her wand. Harry was still whimpering, and reached his arms out for her.

 

“Oh Harry… what are we gonna do?” She murmured as she picked him up, holding him tight to her chest and letting herself have a breather, as the pain started to wash over her.

 

Lily had lost almost everything in the last ten minutes, her husband, her house, her friends, her safety. But she did have her baby, and she did have a chance.

 

“Lets get a game plan together, shall we?” She said out loud, looking down at Harry. “We can’t go to uncle Remus, he’s still on a mission… uncle Sirius… well, we don’t know what he’s doing, do we? But he might not be safe right now, so we can’t go to him.”

 

She had turned to Petunia’s old room in desperation, and the situation wasn’t about to get any better. If she couldn’t trust in magic right now, perhaps going to her sisters was the safest bet. She hadn’t spoke to her since Petunias wedding. It hadn’t gone well. But surely she would help, Lily had nothing left but her life and her son, and her sister still stood.

 

After debating whether to wait until sun up or not, Lily decided against waiting too long, and scooped up Harry, slipping down the road to the payphone her and Petunia used to pass on their way to the park.

 

Lily quickly dialled the number, with reverse charges, it rang a few times. To be expected, it was late after all, but thankfully Petunia picked up the phone.

 

Her tone wasn’t polite, after all, who called this late at night when there was a one year old in the house, and didn’t this person quite know that her husband had to be up early for work the next day?

 

Once her sisters tone would have gotten on Lily’s nerves, but right now it made her smile weakly. For all that she had lost tonight, her sister hadn’t changed in the slightest.

 

“Tuney… Tuney it’s me, I’m in trouble.” Lily had finally said down the line.

 

There was silence. An internal debate clearly raging inside of Petunia, this was her sister after all. And while Petunia Dursley was snobbish and could be cruel, this was her sister.

 

“Not financial I hope. I’m not here to bail you out because that husband of yours wont work.” She sniffed stiffly, and Lily could hear her sisters arms cross on the other end.

 

“No… nothing like that. Proper trouble. James… he, he’s gone Tune.” Lily said, bouncing Harry on her hip as she tried not to let her emotions take over.

 

“Left you has he?” Petunia spit out. “Well, I can’t say I didn’t see it coming-“

 

“No, no Tune, he’s dead.” Lily interrupted, her words dropping out her mouth like stones. “He’s dead, and I, I managed to get away, and I’ve got Harry, but… well I’ve got nowhere to go that’s safe right now, and, well, I’m at the old house, in Cokeworth. Just holed up for a few hours, didn’t know where else to go, but I’ve got nothing with me, no money, or anything, haven’t even got a coat to keep Harry warm, he’s in his pyjamas.”

 

Silence. It could have lasted an eternity for all Lily knew, she had said it. She was a widow, in her early twenties, a widow already with a one year old on her hip, and nothing left to take care of him.

 

“You… you stupid girl.” Petunia sighed after a moment. “I tried to warn you.” She mumbled, but even Petunia Dursley couldn’t make it sound convincing. “I’ll wake Vernon, tell him I’m going to come and pick you up, see if he’s okay waking up for Dudley if he needs it.”

 

Lily sighed in relief. “Thank you… thank you Tuney. I’m sorry I know it’s late and-“

 

“Stop that now. I don’t need you blubbering down the phone, I’ve got to get ready for this drive, it’s a good three hours away you know. Just stay inside, and keep warm until I get there. And for gods sake, look after that baby, I don’t want to take him to the hospital tonight too.” She said irritably before hanging up the phone.

 

* * *

 

 

Three hours away or not, Petunia made it in two. No traffic, she said, but truthfully it was easier to ignore the speed limits when there was nobody else on the roads.

 

Things were stiff and awkward, and lets not pretend that Petunia was kind about the ordeal. She simply unlocked the old house with the keys she had forgotten to give to the estate agent yet and called for Lily.

 

She looked at her sister, silent tears streaming down her face and ugly snot bubbling up at her nose, and for once, Petuina felt like the pretty one. She reached out to take the baby from her sisters shaking arms, and looked sharply down at the boys pyjamas, covered in dragons or some other creature Petunia didn’t care for. She marched down the front path and opened the back door, reaching in and doing up Dudley’s car seat around this other toddler, stiff and clinical, but also taking care not to wake him. A screaming child was the last thing she needed.

 

“Theres a spare room.” Petunia finally announced, half an hour into their drive as Lily looked out the window trying to hide her crying. “And Dudley’s old Moses basket. It’s obviously going to be small, but better than nothing.”

 

“Right. Thank you.” Lily replied, pushing tears away from her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper.

 

“For gods sake Lily, use a tissue.” Petunia snapped, leaning over and opening the glove compartment, handing her sister a packet of tissues.

 

“Right, yeah, sorry.” Lily mumbled, taking the packet and clearing her face.

 

“There’ll be time for crying later. After you’ve had some sleep and got a roof over your head.” Petunia told her, craning her neck to watch for traffic at some crossing or other.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, thanks, again.”

 

“And stop doing that.”

 

“Doing what?”

 

“Not being Lily.”

 

Lily laughed dryly, but there was no happiness in it. “Tuney, I’ve lost almost everything tonight. I think I’ve got a pass to be a bit out of it, don’t you think?”

 

“There she is. Bossy as ever.”

 

“Excuse you, you were the bossy one.”

 

“Well, I’m older.”

 

“Alright Tuney.” Lily said softly, a ghost of a smile passing her face. She had lost a lot tonight, but in that moment she had found her sister again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Petunia looked at her little sister, the fiery one, the reckless one, the pretty one, but she didn’t see any of that, all she could see was how broken she was, and for a moment, Petunia forced herself to think about what would happen if her sister had died along with her husband last night. She looked around her kitchen, her floral, pristine, boring kitchen, and wondered if she would have forced herself to be happy with this for the rest of her life.

Lily slept for a long time, not wanting to face the reality of what happened, she went into Petunias spare room, wrapped Harry up safe in the old Moses basket (which really was too small, but it was soft, and safe) and collapsed on the bed. The floral prints were unfamiliar, but very much a reflection of her sister, and after secretly putting up some wards on Petunias house, she felt safe enough to sleep.

 

She woke to the sound of fighting, unfamiliar to her ears, and sat up. All she had managed to do was take her shoes off before crashing out the night before, so she rubbed at her eyes, and took her jumper off, the warmth of a new day being enough for her jeans and shirt. She saw Harry still deep in sleep, and knew it was safe enough to let him for now, the stress of yesterday being far too much for Lily to dare rip him from his slumber.

 

“… Freak. That’s what you told me. You can’t invite strangers into the house Petunia! I’m the one that pays for it after all, and I won’t have it!”

 

“She is still my sister. Freak or not, she needs me.” Petunia said, a steel to her voice, but it was quieter than Lily ever remembered her sister sounding. “ _She_ needs _me_ ”

 

Silly Petunia, just because she had magic, doesn’t mean she stopped needing her big sister.

 

“And you thought just because she’s your sister, you’d let the _freak_ anywhere near our Dudley?”

 

“She needs me Vernon, and that’s final.”

 

Then there was the sound of a slap, and Lily’s eyes widened. She resisted the urge to run down to her sister, and stood quietly at the top of the stairs.

 

“When I get home from work, I want that _bitch_ gone. The neighbours will talk.”

 

Lily stood still as she heard the front door slam and suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for her sister. Lily knew Vernon wasn’t pleasant, but she thought at least, he was nice to her sister. No, their parents had gone, and Lily hadn’t been close enough to notice what was happening to her big sister. She was the big sister after all, it had always been Lily rushing into things and needing help from her sister, not the other way around.

 

“Does he always talk to you like that?” Lily asked softly as she slipped downstairs after she was sure Vernon had left.

 

Petunia jumped, not hearing her sister approach. “God, Lily.” She muttered clutching at her chest for a moment before she receded back into her prissy shell. “Don’t you know it’s rude to eavesdrop, I don’t need you commenting on my marriage after I’ve brought you into my home.” She snapped as she picked up Vernons messy plate that he’d just left on the table, putting it into the sink and starting to run the hot water.

 

“Tuney, he hit you… that’s not me eavesdropping, that’s me being scared for you.” She murmured, hovering in the doorway still.

 

“You, scared for me?” Hitting new points of shrill in her voice, Petunia laughed derisively. “You’re the one in so much danger you had to come somewhere normal to hide.”

 

Lily’s eyes flashed dangerously, but she didn’t move from the doorway, knowing it was best to keep her calm with Petunia. “Yes. Tuney. I’m scared for you. Even though I’ve been in hiding for a year, even though I’m being chased by some evil fuck, even though my husband got murdered last night, I’m scared that you have to live like this.” She said, it still didn’t feel real, it didn’t hurt because it wasn’t true yet. It didn’t feel true. “Because even when the entire world was against me, James had my back. Even when he knew I was wrong, he supported me, and I him. I couldn’t live with someone who treated me like he just treated you, and you don’t deserve that.”

 

Petunia had already turned her back, pulling on her washing up gloves and cleaning Vernons plate. “That’s the first time he’s done that.” She said primly. “He’s under a lot of stress at work, and he’s right Lily, the neighbours will talk. And you are… freakish.”

 

“Yes. But I was happy, Tune. Are you happy?”

 

“I have a nice house, a husband who works enough that I don’t have to, and a son who is absolutely wonderful. Why wouldn’t I be happy?”

 

“Tuney… he just spoke to you the same way he speaks to me. And we both know he hates me, but he’s meant to love you. That’s not love.”

 

“And what on earth would you have me do, Lily? I don’t have your freakishness, I can’t just disappear, I have nowhere else to go. All the accounts have mine and Vernon’s name on them, I can’t get money without his signature, and Dudley… I don’t want to be a single mum.”

 

“Neither do I.”

 

“Right. Right, I’m sorry.” Petunia replied softly, pulling her gloves off and putting them on the side. Nobody else had seen what Lily had seen, and on the days where Vernon was nice, she had convinced herself that the rest of it was all in her head. “Don’t you worry yourself about my marriage, sit down, I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

 

Lily eyed Petunia with some suspicion at her sudden change in tone, but did as she asked and sat at the kitchen table, reaching her arms up to retie her hair into a messy bun. She felt tired and grotty, and exhausted. Her brain had barely even begun to catch up to the situation, but right now with just her sister, well. Petunia had been there since Lily was born, even though she hadn’t seen her for over a year, it felt normal. Normal-ish.

 

“Dudley won’t wake up for another hour or so, usually. Did you want to talk about it?” Petunia asked, placing a flowery mug in front of Lily, two sugars and some milk, same as always.

 

“It still doesn’t feel real. Like… like James is going to turn up at any minute, wondering where on earth I went.” She murmured, wrapping her fingers round the mug with a sigh.

 

Petunia just nodded, sipping on her own tea, with one sugar and no milk. She was cutting dairy out of her diet. “So… what are you going to do?”

 

“Well, I’m here, and I’m safe, so probably take a bit to think about my next move, if you’re not going to kick me out by five, that is.”

 

“Of course I’m not. What would the neighbours think if I sent my sister and her infant son away with nothing but the clothes on their backs?” Petunia replied stiffly.

 

“I’ll probably send Dumbledore a message, patronus, if I can manage one. Get him to meet me somewhere out in the open, then if you could watch Harry for an hour or so, I can get some answers.”

 

“I think I can manage that much, just as long as you aren’t out all hours of the night, I like to have my doors locked by nine.” Petunia replied, “Just… I don’t want you using magic in front of Vernon. Or Dudley, the last thing I need is Dudley wanting a wand of his own.”

 

“No, of course, I know you don’t much like to see it either.”

 

“What about when you have answers? Where will you go?”

 

“I suppose I’ll get a new flat, set up some stronger wards… use someone else. Maybe Dumbledore himself, or, McGonagall…”

 

“How are you planning on affording a new flat?”

 

“Oh, right, well James’ family vaults are pretty full… and now he’s… gone, I suppose its mine and Harrys now. He still gets the royalties from this hair potion that’s in circulation, old family business or something.”

 

“Right. So you’ll disappear again.”

 

Lily looked up at her sister, she’d never shown any inclination to visit her in the past year when she’d been in hiding, or even while at Hogwarts had she ever been too worried about Lily not being around.

 

“I… I don’t have to go.”

 

“Don’t be silly, Vernon wouldn’t have you here forever, and besides, it’s not the type of area for… your type.”

 

Lily shook her head softly, “You… you could come with me, this time.”

 

Petunia’s eyebrows raised, Lily had always been going places she couldn’t follow, always doing things Petunia couldn’t join in on. It was a strange thought that perhaps… they could be sisters again. Proper sisters.

 

“And what would I do?” she sniffed, trying to turn her nose up at the prospect.

 

“We can find something Tune, secretary work, or teaching, or, I don’t know, personal shopper?” Lily suggested with a small grin. “No, I got it, wedding planner. You’d be able to charge people out the ass for things I could make at home with my freaky ways.”

 

“And what would you do?”

 

“That is a good question. I wouldn’t be able to stop with my… my work. But it would be different. I wouldn’t be as much as a target on my own, I don’t think.”

 

“What about Dudley, he can’t learn magic. I don’t want him to be disappointed.”

 

“We know more this time… we can explain that magic doesn’t always mean special, doesn’t mean better.”

 

“What a pretty picture.” Petunia sighed, “But that’s all it can be Lily. A picture. I can’t leave my husband. I don’t want to be divorced, what would people think?”

 

“Who gives a toss what people think?” Lily retorted rolling her eyes. “He hit you today, Petunia. What if he hit Dudley?”

 

“He hit me because I let a _freak_ near our son.”

 

“What if Dudley becomes a freak? What if Dudley brings home a freak of his own. Vernon is so scared of being different that he _hit_ you! Tuney, he hurt you because you did something that he didn’t like. What if he doesn’t like Dudleys first girlfriend, what if Dudley brought home a boyfriend instead? What if he liked cars and didn’t get good grades, or what if he liked dancing and got brilliant grades? What if Dudley grows up to be anything other than average? What would Vernon do then? Would he hit him too? Or would he hit you again because he thinks you got it _wrong?_ ”

 

“I can’t just leave Lily.”

 

“And I can’t start again on my own. I need you Tuney. Even when you’re mean, and sharp, and even when you pretend to hate me. You were still here when I needed you, and I need you still. I can’t bring Harry up on my own, and I don’t know who else there is anymore.”

 

“If I did. You have to tell me what’s going on. _Everything_ that’s going on. And if I decide somethings too dangerous, you don’t go.”

 

“Right. I can do that, if you’re willing to listen to all the magic.”

 

“Okay, you don’t let anyone in unless I think they’re safe for the children. None of your magic friends are allowed back into the picture until I say so.”

 

“I won’t cut them all out of my life, but I can agree to that rule being on the house.”

 

“I get to choose the house, somewhere nice, clean, a good neighbourhood with a good primary school, and you have to listen to me, no more magic in the park, or anything like that, your freakishness is a s _ecret_ it has to be.”

 

“Fine, but Harry’s will be accidental. I’ll deal with it all, you don’t have to worry about any of it.”

 

Petunia looked at her little sister, the fiery one, the reckless one, the pretty one, but she didn’t see any of that, all she could see was how broken she was, and for a moment, Petunia forced herself to think about what would happen if her sister had died along with her husband last night. She looked around her kitchen, her floral, pristine, boring kitchen, and wondered if she would have forced herself to be happy with this for the rest of her life.

 

 

“How long will it take?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vernon’s memory had to be altered, leaving no trace of magic, no trace of Petunia’s sister being a freak, or even turning up on their doorstep at all. Vernon remembered slapping Petunia around the face, but couldn’t quite recall why. Making the unpleasant assumption that his temper had cost him his marriage, he quietly signed the divorce papers, and told all the neighbours that his wife had taken ill and gone to stay in the countryside with her sister. Well, it was almost the truth.
> 
> Maybe Vernon signed up for anger management classes, maybe he started taking care of himself, and by time he met someone new, he wasn’t as pig-headed as he had been when he married Petunia Evans. Then again, he probably didn’t.

It didn’t take long, in the end. Once it was a firm decision, two days was all it took to get all their ducks in a row. Lily found a secluded cottage in the Norfolk countryside, an old farmhouse. It came with a swath of land, and an old barn which would eventually hold tire swings and bits of climbing frame for the boys to play in, the whole thing kitted out in cushioning charms at Lily’s insistence, and hay bales to fall on at Petunias.

 

Lily offered up the down payment in cash, a simple confundus charm convinced the bank to accept her explanation of having lived abroad for a few years, and unable to use foreign bank details to transfer the money the muggle way. Petunia politely offered to handle the accounts after that.

 

Petunia took a trip to city hall to get divorce papers and filled it all in, leaving it on the kitchen table when she left, a post-it-note telling Vernon where to sign and a stamped and addressed envelope lying next to it.

 

Vernon’s memory had to be altered, leaving no trace of magic, no trace of Petunia’s sister being a freak, or even turning up on their doorstep at all. Vernon remembered slapping Petunia around the face, but couldn’t quite recall why. Making the unpleasant assumption that his temper had cost him his marriage, he quietly signed the divorce papers, and told all the neighbours that his wife had taken ill and gone to stay in the countryside with her sister. Well, it was almost the truth.

 

Maybe Vernon signed up for anger management classes, maybe he started taking care of himself, and by time he met someone new, he wasn’t as pig-headed as he had been when he married Petunia Evans. Then again, he probably didn’t.

 

Petunia had Lily wave her wand and pack all her belongings into boxes in one fell swoop, and they packed them into Petunia’s car by hand, strapping Dudley into his familiar car seat, and Harry into another one they had picked up from a charity shop, they drove. They drove for a few hours, from Surrey to the Norfolk countryside, the radio playing the whole way there so they didn’t have to talk.

 

Two sisters, and their boys.

 

The house was big, six bedrooms, plus a loft space and a basement. It was rather run down, which was how they found it on the affordable side of things. (As much as Lily had access to James’ vaults, it was Harry’s money more than hers. She could practically hear James’ telling her to shut up and take the money, but she wasn’t going to take more than what they needed.)

 

After setting up a multitude of protective enchantments, Lily found herself doing a lot of reparo charms that day, bringing everything up to standard. Petunia’s standard no less, so by time they started moving boxes inside, there wasn’t a crumbling brick or rotten wooden beam in sight.

 

Petunia made Lily conjure two beds and two cots, a kitchen table, and a sofa, before promptly pushing her sister towards one of the beds.

 

“Lily, you’ve been up for nearly two days straight. You get in that bed right now while I clean and unpack, the boys are still asleep from that car journey, you’ve shot that bloody wand in the air more times than I care to count. You’re safe enough to go to sleep, and you’re going to get some or so help me god-“

 

Lily went with much less protesting than Petunia seemed to be expecting, and was asleep before she could say ‘Gryffindor’.

 

And Petunia cleaned. She swept, she dusted, she polished, and she started to unpack her boxes. Baby photos of Dudley, a few ornaments for the mantelpiece, kitchen equipment, a calendar on the wall in the kitchen, a multitude of bottles in the bathroom, clothes and bedding in her room, all the things that made it a home. It still looked a little bare when she was done, but she would take Lily back to her home to gather what she needed soon enough. The thought was there to take all of Dudley's toys to his room, but the boys playing on the floor together seemed happy enough. Lily and Petunia were always taught to share, and Petunia couldn’t find it in herself to deny her son the life lessons her parents had given her. It shook her to realise that if she had stayed, she would have simply tried to give Dudley a ‘perfect’ life, instead of a good one, never teaching him what was right, instead handing him everything he wanted.

 

Petunia Evans had come so close to loosing herself in the pursuit of perfection. Of a story book life, with the white picket fence and a husband providing for her and her child. She had nearly destroyed herself for it.

 

Petunia Evans was sharp. She was nosy. She was judgemental and never quick to trust. For the brightest things in her life left for brighter shores, so Petunia had decided to make do without bright things.

 

Lily Evans had come so close to loosing her life in the pursuit of what was right. Of a picture-perfect world where everyone was equal and people looked at merit, not blood. She had nearly been destroyed for it.

 

Lily Evans was ambitious. She was young. She had gravitated towards the opportunities life had granted her and simply expected her sister to wait behind for her. She had flown too close to the sun and the wax wings of youthfulness and hope had melted before her eyes.

 

After a long sleep, a cup of fortifying tea, and a breakfast that Lily was forced to eat under her sisters watchful eye, Petunia announced it was time to collect Lily’s things. Dudleys clothes were too big for Harry, and Harry was getting restless without any of the things familiar to him.

 

So they drove. The boys back in their car seats, the four of them drove all the way to Godrics Hollow. Lily could barely even believe her eyes when she showed up. Her house looked normal. Looked perfectly fine. Clearly Voldemort had fled, he knew that members of the order would be there soon enough. She whispered the address to Petunia, unlocking the fidelius charm in front of her eyes and for half an hour sat in the car without moving.

 

James wouldn’t be there still, and Lily didn’t know if that made it better or worse.

 

Eventually Petunia made a move, walking round the car and opening Lily’s door and offering her hand.

 

Whatever else Petunia was, she was also a big sister.

 

The boys were both asleep in their car seats, lulled by the long journey and the movement of the car, and Lily stepped into the threshold of the house she had built with James. The kitchen still had plates in the sink, and a mug of tea days forgotten sitting on the table. Lily stared at it, it had a skin across the top of it and she knew it was one James had made. He always used too much milk. She waved her wand, conjuring some boxes and shrinking all the furniture into them. Her and Petunia could figure out what they wanted to keep once they got back, but right now Lily just wanted to get everything away into cardboard boxes.

 

The cat skulked in through the wide-open door eventually and Lily immediately bent down to greet it.

 

“Hey Nimbus.” She muttered, scratching it behind her ear. James had named it, and in a while that would make her smile, but right now it cut Lily to the bone. “Guess you had to go find your own food, huh.”

 

It didn’t take long to pack up. This wasn’t Lily’s home anymore. It would take much longer to unpack, some of these things would spend years in the sisters’ loft, others just a few days, there were one or two things, like James’ shoes, that would never leave those dusty boxes again. Lily never made those boxes a secret, and never stopped Harry from going through his fathers’ things, and didn’t even think to stop Dudley from joining him. When Harry turned seven, he needed glasses, and Lily didn’t even hesitate to give him James’ old enchanted glasses case, that always summoned the glasses back whenever the wearer fell asleep. Nor did she begrudge Dudley when he turned fifteen from helping himself to a leather jacket James’ had brought at a muggle flea market. It had never quite suited James’ lanky frame, but it looked like it had been made for Dudley’s bulk.

 

James’ things would have a habit of working their way back into Lily’s life, and while it would sometimes stop her heart for a beat or two, it would never break it.

 

The weeks that came were the hardest of Lily’s life, she kept her son hidden and always took a route made up of no less than six parts, magical and muggle (which Petunia helped plan), before she made contact with anyone from the wizarding world.

 

* * *

 

 

There had been an order meeting in Lily’s absence. The others had seen no trace of Lily and Harry, making the assumption that they had escaped, and determined that any effort to find them could be detrimental to their safety.

 

Albus Dumbledore had let that comment pass, looking over his half moon spectacles at the young girl before him. Broken, angry, devastated, strong, and most of all, grieving. He had stopped by her sisters residence, to find one man on his own, a little lost without his wife taking care of the house and knew at once that Lily had reconnected with old roots, but he decided not to pry.

 

He informed Lily of the news, of Pettigrews ‘death’, and surprised everyone when she spat out “Good. He deserved it.” With such venom that had never crossed her lips before. She furrowed her brow as everyone looked on with concern.

 

“He was our secret keeper, in the end. He and Sirius came up with the genius plan to switch, because nobody would suspect little Peter Pettigrew, and they were right. None of us did suspect him, but he was the mole we couldn’t find. Or well, the rat. He was betraying us long before we swapped the secret to him. I wonder how long he sat on the information before turning us over? A day? A few hours? It probably wasn’t even minutes before he got the message out.” She explained, her eyes shimmered with tears but Lily, full of righteous anger, refused to let a single one fall. They were for James, and she refused to spend any of her tears on the short pudgy boy she had taught how to talk to girls, and how to play chess, and who had taken her to the kitchens when she got a scathing letter from her sister or- or the boy who betrayed them.

 

Dumbledore tilted his head, he had suspected, but had no proof, so when the Aurors came to take Sirius, Albus had said nothing. He had a knack for collecting broken children, collecting their loyalty. Remus, for example, who would not have been at Hogwarts had it not been for the old mans kindness, followed his lead when they took Sirius. Saying nothing, doubting everything he had ever known about his best friend, while morning the other two.

 

Lily had less time for this, and once she had finished screaming her head off at the old man, for allowing such a thing to happen, she went straight to the ministry. Demanding a trial for Sirius Black, the odd sheep. The wolf in Gryffindor colours. She didn’t care how many howlers she would have to send to old Barty Crouch, how many hours she would spend screaming and arguing and demanding. Sirius was coming back with her. Harry had already lost his father and this war would not take his godfather too.

 

Lily picked went to a payphone to call Petunia. A house phone was the first thing they installed before Lily was able to leave the house. “This is going to take a few days, I’m not fighting, I’m not in the field I promise. I’m going to be at headquarters and the ministry. I don’t want anyone following me back to find Harry, so the less trips I make, the better. I’ll be at headquarters when I’m not at the ministry. I’ll stay safe. I’ll explain everything properly once I get home, but the list of people I wrote down for you, yeah, it’s in the kitchen. It’s Sirius, Harry’s godfather. They’re framing him, for putting James, Harry, and I in danger. I have to get him out Tuney.”

 

Sirius was brought onto the stand and Lily thought she had never seen someone so lost. And then he saw her, and promptly burst into tears. “I thought… I thought he had taken you both.” He had cried out to this girl. His brother’s wife. His friend. His sister.

 

There was enough evidence on Lily’s testimony alone to prove that Sirius Black had not been the one to betray the Potters, and once Sirius had been acquitted, Lily marched straight up to Crouch’s desk, slamming her hand on it. “This is why you don’t send people to Azkaban without a trial just because of their name. We’re fighting so that people aren’t judged due to their family background. You can’t claim to be fighting against something when you’re doing the exact same thing.” She hissed. She didn’t wait for the man to splutter some kind of response, Lily simply turned, throwing her arm around Sirius and leading him out, going straight back to headquarters.

 

Dumbledore had wanted to debrief Sirius as soon as he came back, but Lily was still sore about the entire thing. “You **_let_** him go to Azkaban, and I was the only one who demanded his trial. If you’re not going to ask questions that could keep him out of Azkaban, then you can sod off if you think you’re allowed to ask them now. I’m taking him _home_ and unless Remus is back from his mission, or you’ve killed Voldemort, don’t bother sending a patronus. We’ll be back when we’re ready, not when you call us.”

 

* * *

 

 

Petunia was not entirely happy when Lily came home, three days after she had left, with a bestraggled punk in tow. She pursed her lips in disapproval as she heated up some soup on the stove for the man, and decided she would berate Lily later. After they had both been fed and slept.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s miraculous how someone with such a strong personality as Vernon Dursley is able to convince themselves that they are right. When he had told her to ‘give the boy what he wants’ or ‘children should be seen and not heard, quiet him up’, Petunia had managed to convince herself that he was right. That when Dudley cried, it wasn’t him being a two-year-old, it was her failing as a mother.

Now, while this story may be prettier than the alternative, there was still a prophecy hanging over baby Harry’s head. While their house had as many magical protections Lily was able to place over it, and more basic muggle precautions of it being in the middle of nowhere, and Petunia had the house number as unlisted, it wouldn’t be truly safe without a Fidelius charm.

 

Sirius had been a viable option for Secret Keeper in the past, Lily refused to let him, as this time, he too would be a part of the secret.  Lily and James hadn’t been able to be their own secret keeper, because it was their location, they were themselves the secret.

 

This time, Sirius would be too.

 

After soup and a tear-filled cuddle with baby Harry, Sirius had confessed that Pettigrew was still out there. After all the trial, the confession that Sirius had been there while Pettigrew had killed those muggles, and priori incantatem had been performed on Sirius’ wand at Lily’s insistence to prove that Sirius had done no blasting spells, Sirius hadn’t deemed it pertinent to admit his animagus form. And as such, could barely out Pettigrew as one.

 

Lily had known, of course she had. But even the order wasn’t aware of the boys being animagi, it was their bond, it wasn’t anyone else’s to have.

 

She sat at the kitchen table, smiling softly as Sirius played peek-a-boo with Harry, and sketched out a rat, one that had all of Peter’s markings, and owled it to the order headquarters, with a short, blunt, explanation of “Pettigrew is an animagus, not dead. This is his form. He’s missing two of his fingers now. Still at large.”

 

Petunia was less at ease with the man Lily had brought to their house, she didn’t let him near Dudley, and had snapped at him when he offered to help cook. He didn’t look at though he had opened a cookbook in his life. She didn’t speak to him for two days while he and Lily discussed all sorts of things at their kitchen table, only half of which went over Petunias head. She was starting to pay attention to her sister after all, but it would take longer than the week they had spent together for her to catch on to all the magic they spoke of.

 

After she had served dinner on the third day of his presence, she narrowed her eyes at him before setting his plate down. “You need a haircut.” She announced, setting his food down with her nose held high in the air.

 

Sirius caught eyes with Lily who was trying to hide a smirk at her sisters pronouncement, and he let out a bark of laughter. “Would that I could Pet, but finding a hairdresser who does house calls to war hideouts hasn’t been the easiest.” He said, leaning back in his chair and feeling more himself than he had felt in months.

 

Petunia raised an eyebrow at his nickname for her, a face that clearly showed her distaste for someone she barely knew addressing her so informally, but it didn’t have the cruel edge to it that Petunia tended to carry. She saw the charm that this man carried, and clearly the tension had melted away as soon as she had spoke to him, and she could have sworn the heaviness in his face had disappeared when he laughed.

 

“I did a hairdressing course before I became a secretary. I could do it, if it gets any longer you’ll start catching fleas.” She replied, her tone still haughty, but it was a genuine offer, and she was completely lost when both Lily and Sirius fell into absolute fits of laughter. It was more of a snide comment than a joke.

 

Lily seemed to cotton on to where her mind was beginning to turn and tried to explain through her laughter. “No, Tune, we’re not laughing at you, it’s just Sirius, he can turn into a dog.” She grinned, her laughter starting to subside as she wiped a happy tear from her eye. “We used to joke about fleas all the time at school.”

 

Petunia simply shook her head, a tiny smile playing at her lips as she started eating. She didn’t think it was that funny, even with the explanation, and truly, Sirius and Lily didn’t either, but you have to cling to the things that make you smile when you’re grieving. Better jokes had been made about Padfoot, and better jokes had yet to come, but it was something James might have said about Sirius hair, and for a moment, in the laughter, he didn’t feel so far away.

 

Petunia still didn’t approve of the way Sirius presented himself, and would scold him consistently for some of the things he said, (“You can’t joke about that in front of the c _hildren_ Sirius!”) but truly, she was grateful that his presence was bringing some comfort to Lily. She often found him in his dog form curled up at the end of Lily’s bed in the mornings, or playing in front of the fire with Harry and Dudley while Lily watched on fondly. The first time Harry asked for ‘dada’ Sirius immediately stepped in while Lily’s face crumpled. “He’s not here buddy, why don’t we get your broom out and play in the barn, yeah?” He had said, taking the small boy from Lily’s arms and distracting him easily. Lily had locked herself in her room, only coming out to put Harry to bed that night, and Petunia was impressed with how Sirius had known when to step in and when to give Lily space.

 

Petunia had an entirely different reaction the first time Dudley asked for ‘papa’. She pursed her lips and handed him a toy car. “He’s not here, baby.” She had said softly, but Dudley was a stubborn boy already. “Shan’t!” He had shouted back, throwing the car across the floor with surprising force for a two-year-old. “Want Papa!” he had shouted, his tantrum beginning to take hold, and Petunia should have been surprised. His mother had gone from ensuring he had every single thing he ever wanted, to making him share with this other boy. While Aunt Lily could make pretty colours appear from her wand, Papa had given him sweets and toys nearly every day.

 

Petunia wasn’t sure how to deal with this tantrum. Not this time. Usually it was easy, Dudley wanted to stay up past bedtime, or an extra piece of chocolate, these were things Petunia could give him. But this wasn’t. She couldn’t bring Vernon back, and besides, she had felt freer now than she had in months. Vernon wasn’t there to tell her she was parenting her child wrong, wasn’t there to tell her to shut the baby up, wasn’t judging her for not being a perfect housewife.

 

“Dudley, no.” she said firmly, she knew he would likely make a lot of noise at being told no, but she hadn’t begrudged Lily any of Harry’s crying fits, she knew her sister wouldn’t judge her. “Papa isn’t here.”

 

As expected, the boy screamed louder, throwing himself onto the rug in the lounge and crying harder. “ _Want Papa!_ ” he screamed, and as Petunia went to pick him up again he kicked at her.

 

“Dudley, _no.”_ Petunia repeated, more firmly, trying to mimic the way Lily held her voice when she told Harry he wasn’t allowed something. “If this doesn’t stop, I shall put you to bed.” She told him, and miraculously she followed through on the threat, she put Dudley in his cot, even though it was only 6pm, and allowed him to cry it out. It wasn’t easy, sitting outside his bedroom door and listening to it all, but once he had tired himself into sleep, Petunia felt like she had achieved something. Saying no to her son wasn’t something she did before.

 

It’s miraculous how someone with such a strong personality as Vernon Dursley is able to convince themselves that they are right. When he had told her to ‘give the boy what he wants’ or ‘children should be seen and not heard, quiet him up’, Petunia had managed to convince herself that he was right. That when Dudley cried, it wasn’t him being a two-year-old, it was her failing as a mother.

 

Petunia was still out in the hall when Lily came and sat on the ground next to her. “You did good.” She offered quietly. “I know I hate it when Harry cries, it makes me feel like I’m doing it wrong, you know?”

 

The older sister just nodded, exhausted from dealing with Dudley.

 

“You’re not, though. Doing anything wrong I mean. They’re two, they don’t know what no means unless we teach them. Same way they’re learning how to share now, that they’re not on their own.”

 

“I remember, when you were born.” Petunia said, into the quiet. “Only just, I was three after all. Or maybe I remember mum telling me about it, but I think I remember mum saying that she had a new sister for me, but you were in her belly. I threw such a fit because I just wanted a new sister _right now.”_

 

Lily smiled softly, a small laugh bubbling out of her at the thought of her older sister having a tantrum over her.

 

“Of course, they couldn’t make you come faster, dad took me aside and said that I mustn’t behave like this when the baby came, because I had to teach you how to behave like a good girl.” She continued. “Things changed a bit, after that. Mum wouldn’t always read to me, because she was looking after you, things like that. I had to learn how to share my time with them. They had to say no to me a lot when I was throwing tantrums. It made me less of a brat. With Vernon, I just, I felt like I was wrong to not give Dudley everything he wanted. It was silly really. I was so scared of being wrong, of people thinking I was a bad mum. Of Vernon thinking I was a bad mum. I miss him, I think. I miss having someone to talk to at night, before sleep. But I was so close to convincing myself that was happiness Lils. If… if you hadn’t reached out the way you had, I think I would have fell into it. I would have spent my life hating you for having everything I couldn’t. I would have fought so hard to be normal I wouldn’t have even asked if I was happy. And I’m sorry for that, Lily. You’re my sister, and that should be more important than being normal.”

 

“You’re better than normal, Tuney, you’re extraordinary to me.”

 

Petunia smiled, and in that instant, she was just as pretty as her sister. Maybe, even, a little bit more.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m Petunia, I’m Lily’s sister.” She explained shortly as she applied antiseptic to the wounds, trying to get some of the blood out of his sandy hair. She didn’t expect to be met with a weary glance at her introduction, but perhaps it was the sting of the antiseptic on her fingers.
> 
> “Lily mentioned you. At school.”

A further two weeks into their new living situation, the three adults had fallen into a routine. Sirius, who while he had his own room still took to sleeping at the end of Lily’s bed in his dog form, was usually up first. He slept, but at increasingly odd hours.  If he heard Harry or Dudley crying, he would pick them up and turn on some early morning cartoons and sit with them until 8:30 on the dot where Petunia would rise, shuffling through the house and knocking on Lily’s door to wake her up before starting breakfast. Lily, for her part, threw her pillow at the door and carried on snoozing until at least 9.

 

Lily and Sirius took it in turns to go up to Diagon Alley every few days in disguise, to see what chatter they could pick up. Usually not much, people were terrified to say anything these days, they barely even stopped to discuss the weather, but once or twice they heard mild references to the Order or the Death Eaters. They had only been to back headquarters once, to meet up with McGonagall who had agreed to be their secret keeper.

 

Most days Lily transfigured Harry’s hair to be the same blonde as Dudleys and Petunia took them on walks to the local village, it gave Lily and Sirius time to work on their investigation, which was focused more on Pettigrew than anything, and Petunia enjoyed her brush with normalcy. She gossiped with other mums in the park, and spun tales of her good-for-nothing husband who she had fled from with her boys. She never really mentioned that Harry wasn’t hers, no need for any prying ears to know that there was a new woman in town who was living with her sister, but she never outright said Harry was her son, either. On their way back from town they would get some shopping for dinner, and most evenings, Sirius would cook and Lily would wash up, insisting Petunia shouldn’t have to do all the housework. It was a nice change from the days where Petunia had to keep her entire home pristine, less Vernon criticise her.

 

Then things changed when another haggard looking young man pitched up on their doorstep. Petunia had called for Lily, after all it could only be one of her magic friends who could find this place, but had gone to answer the door anyway. She felt safe in this house, the charms were constantly being updated by Lily and Sirius, and they trusted their old professor. None of this prepared Petunia to see a man so thin he looked close to collapse, with a long bloody gash down the side of his face, the mottled red standing out against his pale skin.

 

“Goodness gracious! Come in, to the kitchen, I’ll get the first aid kit.” Petunia gasped, leading the man to the kitchen. “Lily! Come down here!” She shouted shrilly up to her sister as she hurried to the bathroom to get her first aid kit, upgraded with some potions from Lily, all labelled and explained to Petunia. She was clinical and precise with the man, knowing there would be time for introductions soon, but attending to his more pressing needs first, namely the blood trickling down his face. “I’m Petunia, I’m Lily’s sister.” She explained shortly as she applied antiseptic to the wounds, trying to get some of the blood out of his sandy hair. She didn’t expect to be met with a weary glance at her introduction, but perhaps it was the sting of the antiseptic on her fingers.

 

“Lily mentioned you. At school.” He replied, his voice sounded dry and cracked, like it had been left out in the sun too long. He clearly hadn’t been speaking to people for a while.

 

Harry had shuffled his way into the kitchen at all the noise, and seemed simply delighted to see the man at the table, and started his one year old babbling. Something about the moon, as far as Petunia could tell. “No Harry, the moon comes out at night time, remember?” she said patiently to her nephew as she finished cleaning out the mans obvious facial wounds, no doubt there were more that she couldn’t see, but it was the best she could do for the moment.

 

“It’s alright, that’s just what he calls me.” The man chuckled, and started to reach out for Harry, but Petunia picked him up first. She still didn’t quite know who he was, though he seemed to be perfectly polite.

 

“I’ll just go get Lily, I shan’t be long.” Petunia said primly, walking upstairs with Harry balanced on her hip, and pointedly ignoring the scowl on the mans face when she took Harry out of his reach.

 

After a moment Lily appeared, having already announced her presence by thundering her way down the stairs as she ran to greet her friend. Remus had been the first of the boys she had spoken to, he was a prefect with her, and they had always enjoyed working together in class. She had him to thank for convincing her the others weren’t so bad. He was just as much her brother as Sirius was, and she couldn’t believe he was here.

 

“Have you heard the news?” Remus asked as Lily rushed in to hug him, Sirius stood behind her at the doorway with a relieved grin on his face to see him.

 

“We haven’t been at headquarters lately, since the whole thing with Sirius and his brush with Azkaban. I told Dumbledore that unless you were back or this war was over I didn’t want to hear about it.” She explained, pulling back from their hug and crouching by his chair so she could see him while he spoke.

 

Remus smiled grimly. It wasn’t a happy smile, but it was still a smile. Whatever news was coming, it was bittersweet. Sirius stepped over, gently guiding Lily to the next chair, she would probably want to be sitting down for whatever this was.

 

“Tell us, Mooney.” Sirius pushed gently, the last time they had seen each other, Sirius was being carted off to Azkaban, and the time before, they had argued over Remus being the rat. They had both wronged each other. Remus by not fighting an accusation, Sirius by making an accusation. He hoped the use of the nickname would send some kind of message about no hard feelings.

 

“Frank and Alice, the Longbottoms, you remember them, right?” Remus probed, not sure where to start with the news. He continued at Lily’s nod, she didn’t like the way this was going. “Well, they had similar charms to you, they had a secret keeper, plus every shield we could throw at them. They chose Marlene McKinnon. Once she died, everyone who knew the secret became secret keepers. It wasn’t seen to be too much of a security risk because only three other people knew the secret besides Dumbledore and Marlene. Franks mother, Alice’s second cousin Molly, and one low ranked order member who was sent at last minute to deliver some potions when Alice got sick a few weeks ago…”

 

Sirius’ grip on the back of Lily’s chair tightened. “It was Pettigrew, wasn’t it?” He asked through gritted teeth.

 

Remus nodded grimly. “Once McKinnon was dead, he could have passed the secret straight away, but I don’t think Peter knew that. He never was the most polished wand in the shop. Obviously, he hadn’t been able to make contact with Voldemort for a few weeks, what with everyone in the order tracking him, especially once his animagus form was released to the order. But he clearly found his old pal in the past few days, because Frank and Alice are both dead.”

 

The sound that left Lily’s chest was far more familiar than it should be, it was a noise of pure grief. “Their son?” she asked quietly. She had met the boy before, her and Alice had given birth one day apart, they shared the same hospital ward, the highest security the order could provide, at some small muggle hospital in the middle of nowhere. The midwives and doctors had their memories altered; nobody even remembered the place their boys were born. Kingsley had been their guard that day, and Lily shuddered to think what would happen if it had been Pettigrew. Had he turned to Voldemort by then?

 

“There comes the news.” Remus said conspiratorially. “He lived. Nevilles fine. Barely even injured, there was a scar, on his forehead. Looks like a curse scar, it’ll never heal, but he lived.”

 

“How the fuck did that come about then?” Sirius blurted, not noticing Petunia standing at the door with Harry still in her arms. She had been listening the whole time, and decided it was less rude to actually stand where people could see her instead of eavesdropping.

 

“Language, children are present.” She snipped at him.

 

“Sorry Pet, but nobody has ever survived that. It’s a curse, there’s no way out of it, and Neville is Harry’s age, it’s not like he was doing any fancy magic. And there’s absolutely no way Voldemort fu- I mean, messed up the curse. Not a single chance of that happening. So it begs the question, how on earth did a one year old, with no discernible magical protection just walk away from the killing curse?”

 

“Dumbledore has a theory. Not that he’s ever one to share, you know what he’s like. But that’s not even the biggest news, they found a third body at the house.” Remus said, finally getting through to the best part of this news.

 

“If it wasn’t Pettigrews dead corpse lying face down in their garden, I’m not sure I’m interested in hearing who else has died. Frank and Alice is bad enough.” Lily sighed softly.

 

“No, it wasn’t one of ours-“ Remus started, allowing a small grin to creep onto his face before Sirius almost jumped down his throat.

 

“Well go on Remus, who was it, clearly you’re dying to tell us!” Sirius groaned at the suspense before Lily elbowed him.

 

“Bad choice of words. Poor form.” She muttered, but turned back to Remus anyway, eager to hear the news.

 

Remus raised one eyebrow at the two and let the suspense sit for a single moment more. “Voldemort.” He said simply, leaning back on his chair to let the news sink in. “They found his body, right near Alice’s. Looks like he killed her in front of the crib, but whatever curse hit Neville seemed to bounce back. Looks about as good dead as he ever did, I reckon.”

 

Lily slumped back in her chair, the first waves of relief starting to fall over her and Sirius just looked dumbfounded, there was silence in the room before Petunia was the first to speak up.

 

“So… that’s it? It’s over?” she asked softly, looking intently at Remus.

 

“Well, there’s obviously a lot of clean up to be done. Rounding up his followers, clearing all the court cases, a lot of re-education, probably. I know lots of people were pulling their children out of Hogwarts, they will want to redo their schooling… but it looks like it.”

 

“Looks like it?” Sirius asked sharply.

 

“Well, Dumbledore doesn’t think he’s gone for good. And as much as I don’t know if I trust his methods, I trust him.” Remus said simply.

 

“I don’t like it, but so do I.” Lily sighed. “Well I’m not coming out of hiding just yet. To make sure. The prophecy referred to Neville and Harry, or either, or both, I don’t know. But until we’ve cleared out the Death Eaters, I don’t want to take any of the charms down.” She said, looking over at Petunia with questioning eyes.

 

Petunia answered with a curt nod, and turned to Remus. “Would you mind holding him? I’ll put some soup on the stove for you.” She said, passing him Harry now she knew this man was safe, and Harry hadn’t stopped making grabbing motions for him ever since the conversation had started.

 

 

Remus stayed with them for over a week. The trio left in the morning, wands at the ready, and returned looking a little worse for wear, but with a rising tally of criminals they had put to justice. Petunia worried each day, but raised no complaints, the level of danger dwindled with each day, and she smiled to herself at all the oddities seen on the news, because in this story she knew exactly what people were celebrating.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is exactly what made Saturdays Harry’s favourite day, he and Dudley got up early to watch all the cartoons, and Aunt Petunia sometimes made them sausage sandwiches for breakfast, instead of the porridge they had on school mornings. They got to stay in their pyjamas all the way till lunch, where Harry’s mum would remind them to get dressed before Mrs Longbottom came over in her funny (but secretly a little bit scary) hat and she always brought Neville to come play, and then Aunt Molly would come with some of her kids, different Weasleys came on different weeks and Harry quite liked all of them, but Ron was his absolute best friend. They all got to play out in the barn for as long as they liked! Well, as long as it was before dark, that’s when everyone had to go home. It was the best.

“It’s a toad.”

 

“No, it’s a frog!”

 

“I’m not sure what it is, but it feels slimy.”

 

“Ew, don’t let it touch me.”

 

“No it is a toad, gran gave him to me!”

 

“Looks like a frog to me.”

 

“Leave it Dud, it’s Nev’s pet, he knows.”

 

Harry pulled on the taller boy’s shoulder, at five it was completely unfair that Dudley was so much taller than him, but it never stopped Harry from pulling his cousin out of his grumpy moments.

 

“What’s it called Nev?” Ginny asked, trying her absolute hardest not to lisp, she had a wobbly tooth all of last week, and once she grew tired of it, she tied it to some string and got her older brothers to slam the door with the other end of the string tied to the knob. She says she didn’t cry, but Ron confided in Harry that she had run straight to their dad, blood coming out the hole the tooth had left behind. He looked a little bit pale just thinking about it, and Harry decided to let his wobbly teeth come out all on their own.

 

“Trevor, like the business man from the cartoons at Harry and Dudley’s house. Gran always says my dad was really important, and business men are important, so I think he would like it that I called him Trevor, it’s an important sounding name.”

 

Harry smiled and nodded, looking up at his friend from where he was dangling out the tyre swing in Harry and Dudley’s barn. He really liked Saturdays, Saturdays were for people coming in and out of the house with news and children and sometimes Aunt Molly brought cookies and stuff. It was way cool in Harry’s opinion, even if none of the other kids had to go to school during the week like him and Dudley did. Harry would never admit, especially to Dudley, but sometimes he found school pretty cool too, there were lots of other kids which was fun, even if Dudley preferred to stick with Harry, so he could read some of the really hard words for him.

 

Harry didn’t mind, it wasn’t Dudley’s fault after all, and Aunt Petunia sat and read lots of books with him after school, he was getting loads better, Harry thought. But they didn’t really have the other school kids round much, Aunt Petunia preferred to take them to play in the park, or at their house, because magic was a big secret with the kids from school. But not with Harry and Dudley’s other friends, they all knew about magic too, and that was fun because they could play all sorts of games that they weren’t really supposed to play at school, including on their two new brooms from Sirius.

 

This is exactly what made Saturdays Harry’s favourite day, he and Dudley got up early to watch all the cartoons, and Aunt Petunia sometimes made them sausage sandwiches for breakfast, instead of the porridge they had on school mornings. They got to stay in their pyjamas all the way till lunch, where Harry’s mum would remind them to get dressed before Mrs Longbottom came over in her funny (but secretly a little bit scary) hat and she always brought Neville to come play, and then Aunt Molly would come with some of her kids, different Weasleys came on different weeks and Harry quite liked all of them, but Ron was his absolute best friend. They all got to play out in the barn for as long as they liked! Well, as long as it was before dark, that’s when everyone had to go home. It was the best.

 

Ron might have been Harry’s best friend, but Neville understood more than Ron. Harry missed his dad somewhat rotten, he always got stories about his dad, but it was never quite the same. Neville missed his dad too, and his mum, so Harry had offered to share his mum. A declaration that had made his mum cry a little bit, and give Neville a big hug, and insist that he call her Aunt Lily. Even though she isn’t really his aunt, but nobody seemed to really care. Even Aunt Petunia, who liked to do everything the proper way, didn’t really mind when everyone else called her ‘Aunt Petunia’.

 

“I think your dad would love it.” Harry smiled at his friend, agreeing completely with the five-year-old logic presented. Their dads were important, so were business men, and Trevor sounded just as important as Frank or James.

 

“My dad really is a business man.” Dudley said proudly, puffing his chest out with a sense of self-importance. Whilst Vernon had signed the divorce papers without much complaint, he ranted up and down that Dudley was his son and how important it was that the boy saw his father, which is why for one weekend every month, Dudley went to stay with his dad.

 

When this first started, Harry felt really jealous. His dad didn’t live with them either, but Harry didn’t get to go and visit, but his mum told him stories about his dad all the time and explained softly that Harry’s dad didn’t live in Surrey like Dudley’s did. He had gone to live in heaven, and Harry couldn’t visit on weekends. But sometimes they would go to his grave, which his mum had told him was a special stone where his dad could hear him, and Harry liked those days. They got to put lots of colourful flowers there, and Harry would sit and tell his dad all about his day and what was happening at school and with his friends. It was a bit weird, talking to a stone instead of a person, but it was still nice to know his dad was listening, even if he couldn’t talk back to Harry.

 

The other thing that stopped Harry’s jealousy was the fact that Dudley’s dad was the biggest, fattest, most boring and horrible man Harry had ever met. But his mum said that he wasn’t ever allowed to say that to Dudley, because it wasn’t very nice.

 

“Ours works at the ministry, he gets to work with muggles!” Ginny added excitedly before Harry could voice his thoughts on how boring Dudley’s dad was.

 

“Yeah? My dad _is_ a muggle.” Dudley grinned, truthfully he didn’t like weekends at his dad all that much. They felt weird. But his dad did buy him wicked cool toys and stuff, which he always brought back to show Harry. But spending weekends at his dad’s every month was what made him special, the same way Harry and his friends could do some magic, he got to spend time with his dad, who didn’t have lots of time because of his ‘very important’ job.

 

“Aren’t you a muggle too?” Neville asked, innocuously enough. He wasn’t actually quite sure, because muggles didn’t know about magic, but Dudley did. At the same time, he couldn’t do magic either, so maybe that did make him a muggle.

 

“No, he’s a squib.” Ron butted in, trying to make himself sound more clever than he was actually being. “We’ve got a cousin who’s a squib, they’re from a big magic family but they can’t do magic either.”

 

“But if Aunt Lily is a muggleborn, doesn’t that mean Aunt Petunia is just a muggle? Which means Dudley is a muggle too.” Ginny asked, lost in thought about the issue and clearly hadn’t seen how the subject was starting to grate on Dudley.

 

“I’m not a squib!” He snapped at Ron, ignoring Ginny’s musing on the subject and shoving Ron with his shoulder as he walked past, not enough to hurt, but enough to clearly tell Ron that he didn’t like what was going on.

 

“Leave it alone. Dudley’s one of us and that’s all that matters. I don’t care what he is, but it’s not nice to call people things.” Harry said firmly, but Ron was already offended by the shoulder push and had started to go red in the face.

 

“He’s not coming to school with us though, so he’s only one of us right now, not for Hogwarts.” Ron grumbled bitterly.

 

“Stop it!” Harry snapped, squaring up to Ron. He might have been Harry’s best friend, but Harry had lots of practise standing up for Dudley. People on the playground at their school would tease him for being stupid, and Harry got a lot of bruised knees and elbows getting into scraps over it, this wasn’t different. Ron wasn’t allowed to make fun of Dudley for not having magic, nobody was, it was one of the things that Lily and Petunia had drilled into the kids over and over. Being different doesn’t mean that either boy was better. Harry would go to Hogwarts and learn magic, but Dudley would go to a fancy private school and learn anything he wanted to. There was lots more jobs for muggles and secretly Harry was a bit jealous, but then again, so was Dudley. But that was okay, because they got to share all of their stuff with each other.

 

“What? He won’t be.” Ron retorted, not ready to back down from his comments. He had five big brothers after all, and was used to arguing his corner. Of course, he was the youngest brother, so he was used to losing all these arguments too.

 

“So? You don’t come to our school right now and you’re still one of us. Plus Dudley gets to go to a big fancy school when we go to Hogwarts and he gets to learn about _everything,_ and we only get to learn about magic.” Harry argued through gritted teeth. Ron was cool and everything but sometimes he wasn’t very nice about Dudley, even when he didn’t meant to be horrible.

 

“But it’s _Hogwarts_ the best school in the whole wide world-“ Ron started before Dudley cut him off by tackling him to the floor and the two boys started scrapping. Neville immediately jumped off the tire swing to go get a grown up and Ginny screamed at Dudley to stop hitting her brother, while Harry tried pulling the two boys apart as best he could.

 

“Stop it both of you!” He shouted as he tried to stand between the other boys, he didn’t see his Aunt Petunia marching towards the barn. Ginny did, and decided now would be the best time to get out of the situation, lest she get in trouble too, and she ducked out behind the barn and went the long way back to the house to sit with her Mum and Aunt Lily who would be in the kitchen with cups of tea and biscuits. It seemed much less likely to get her into trouble than staying in the barn.

 

“ **What on _earth_ do you boys think you’re doing?**” Petunia snapped shrilly, her voice causing all three of the boys to stop what they were doing instantly.

 

“Nothing Aunt Petunia.” Harry said quickly, looking down at the floor. He didn’t want to get either of his friends in trouble, because while Dudley had been the one to hit Ron first, Ron was the one who was saying stuff first.

 

“Nothing mum.” Dudley followed suit, knowing that if it was Harrys play, it would be the smart thing to do.

 

“Nothing? Dudley hit me!” Ron exclaimed indignantly, and was instantly met with glares from the other two boys.

 

“You were being horrible Ron!” Harry argued quickly at the same time as Dudley started defending himself to his mum, and before anything more could be said the three boys were all talking over each other at the same time.

 

“Quiet! All three of you!” Petunia snapped, she had already pieced together what had happened, from what Neville had told her and what she could hear from the boys all arguing over each other. “Harry you go to your room, playtime is over for today.” She said firmly, and though Harry looked up as though he wanted to argue, he was silenced by a sharp look from his aunt and glared at both Dudley and Ron before traipsing off to his room.

 

“Dudley, you know you’re not allowed to hit people, it’s wrong and you could have seriously hurt Ron. I want you to apologise, right now.” She told him sternly.

 

“But mum! He said I’m a squib and I’m not one of them because I won’t be going to Hogwarts and-“ Dudley protested strongly before his mum cut him off.

 

“I know what he said Dudley, but you need to apologise for hitting him, because that was wrong and you know that’s not a nice thing to do.” Petunia repeated herself, she knew Dudley wasn’t great with expressing himself verbally, and often resorted to physical language. It worked both ways, because as much as he was quick to use his bulk against Ron, on the days where he wasn’t sure how to say thank you, or when he wasn’t sure what was making him sad, he would cuddle up to Petunia, or Aunt Lily, and Petunia was pleased that he felt comfortable enough to do that. But working on his words was something they were trying to do at the moment.

 

“Sorry for hitting you.” Dudley grumbled in Ron’s direction before looking up at his mum to see if that was sufficient, and judging by the look on her face, it wasn’t quite. He took a breath and tried again. “Sorry for hitting you but the stuff you was saying made me mad. Shoulda used my words instead.” He said, the words slow and deliberate.

 

Ron still looked slighted by the whole thing, holding his arm where Dudley had landed a decent punch and it was still sore, but he too withered under the glare of Aunt Petunia. “S’okay. I didn’t mean that stuff I said anyway. Not proper.”

 

If it had been Harry, Petunia would have pushed for a proper apology, but she wanted to leave that up to Molly, it was her son after all.

 

“Dudley, go to your room now. Everyone else is going home and I’ll call you for dinner later.” She said firmly, and Dudley trotted off to his bedroom, seemingly glad he wasn’t in for a sterner punishment, but Petunia could tell he was provoked this time. “And lets get you back to your mother, I’m sure she’ll have something to say about it.”

 

Ron gulped audibly as Petunia led him back into the house. While Aunt Petunia was stern and could be quite scary, his mum would always be the last person Ron wanted to know about anything he did wrong.

 

By time everyone was back next Saturday, a week of boredom and school had seemed to wear off any lasting annoyances and they had the best game of hide-and-seek the world had ever seen.

 

Saturdays were definitely Harry’s favourite days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this has taken me faaaar to long to update and I'm hella sorry, but university was crazy. My uni is made up of some pretty terrible people, and there's been a whole issue with them pushing out all the good members of staff, so we got left doing our assessments basically on our own with really shitty new staff who don't know what they're doing and there's been a lot of admin stuff with us putting in a complaint, and then the uni has just said that actually everything is our fault because apparently we're really bad people and it's been dragging me down a lot for the past few months.   
> But I'm done for the summer now, and this is such a lovely place to escape to, so hopefully I'll be updating more frequently over the next few months.  
> Hope you guys enjoyed, as always feedback is what keeps me updating <3


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